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Karnataka: Mandya farmers reel as prices of Chrysanthemum flower drop
Chrysanthemum once valued at up to ₹200 per kg, is now fetching farmers mere ₹15-20 per kg, leaving many in distress.
Chrysanthemum once valued at up to ₹200 per kg, is now fetching farmers mere ₹15-20 per kg, leaving many in distress. The drastic drop in prices has dealt a severe blow to those who toil to cultivate one kilogram of these delicate flowers.
Farmers invest considerable effort in tilling the fields, planting seeds, nurturing the crop, combating pests, and providing irrigation. However, when the flowers finally bloom, they are met with dismal prices. With prices plummeting to ₹5-10, there are scarcely any buyers willing to purchase Chrysanthemum from these farmers.
Harvesting Chrysanthemum flowers, a task that requires preventing damage to the blooms and transporting them to the market intact, also incurs significant costs. In a situation where the expenses incurred for harvesting flowers are unlikely to be recovered, farmers face a grim dilemma.
Yogaraj, a farmer from Kanchanahalli in Pandavapur taluk of Mandya district, made the difficult decision to destroy his flower crop. This family of farmers, who had cultivated Chrysanthemum in Pandavapura and KR pet areas, found themselves struggling as the market price for plummeted.
“I grew Chrysanthemum in my three acres of farm by spending ₹1.8-2 lakh by availing loans,” Yogaraj said. He was expecting at least ₹4.5 to 5 lakhs at the price of ₹40-50 rupees per kilogram. But the price dropped to ₹10-15 per kilo. “I was forced to destroy my crop to grow other crop,” he added. “We used to send flowers to Bengaluru market but no one is buying for more than ₹15 per kilo. The harvesting and transporting coolie per kilo exceed ₹10,” he said.
“Chrysanthemum is being grown in around 3,400 hectares of land in Mandya district,” Mandya horticulture department deputy director B Roopa Shree told HT. She said Pandavapura taluk is the major producer of Chrysanthemum with 2,400 hectares of land while KR Pete taluk produces around 824 hectares. “But this year most of the farmers switched to Chrysanthemum as the price went up to ₹200 per kilo in Bengaluru itself. The growing area swelled to 3,924 hectares. The excess growing and inflow of flowers from Tamil Nadu caused the price crash,” she said, expressing hope that the price may go up during Dasara festival.
Another farmer farmer BN Chandrappa said, “This isn’t an isolated incident. Numerous farmers are resorting to the destruction of their flower crops due to the absence of fair compensation for their hard work. Faced with the prospect of further losses by harvesting and attempting to sell the flowers in the market, these farmers are opting to compost the blooms back into the earth”.
